The Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA)

FAQs

What is FICA?

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 38 of 2001 (FICA), came into effect on 1 July 2003. FICA was introduced to fight financial crime, such as money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing activities.

FICA brings South Africa in line with similar legislation in other countries
designed to reveal the movement of moneys derived from unlawful activities, thereby curbing money laundering and other criminal activities

What documents do you need from me for FICA purposes?
We will need, among others, the following:

Your green barcoded South African identity document or the new smart identity card.

I have submitted FICA documents before - why do you need me to do this again?

Some of the FICA information and/or documentation that we have is illegible or incomplete. Because FICA, its regulations and its guidance notes are continuously under review, requirements change from time to time. As a financial institution Nedbank is obligated to comply with this legislation, regulations an any changes thereof.

Given the announcement by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) on 25 March 2015, will Nedbank freeze my
accounts?

No, not at this stage. Nedbank will contact you should we need any further FICA documentation, provided we have your latest contact details.

What is required from me as a Nedbank client?

Please ensure that we have your latest contact details, ie telephone
number and email address, so that we can contact you should we require further FICA information and/or documentation.

Nedbank will contact you should we need any further FICA documents, provided we have your latest contact details

You say you'll contact me. So what happens if you don't? Are you still going to freeze my accounts?

Nedbank will make every endeavour to contact you, using the details that
are on our files. Should you fail to respond, your accounts will be frozen.
Please contact your branch or relationship manager to ensure we have your latest contact details.

So are you saying all I need to do right now is make sure you can contact me and then wait for you to do so?

Yes.

I have several accounts at Nedbank. Do I need to go through this process for every account?

No. You only need to go through this process once for all your personal
accounts. Business accounts are treated separately, though

What if I have a business AND a personal account?

You would need to submit documentation for the business account separately from that for your personal account, because the FICA documentation requirements are different.

For business accounts, it will depend on how your entity has been registered (i.e. as a public company or a listed company). Please contact your relationship manager or your nearest branch to obtain a list of the nformation and documentation requirements for your specific business.

What happens if I do not bring in the necessary documents?

If you fail to provide the necessary FICA information and documentation
to Nedbank once these have been requested, Nedbank will freeze your account following an account restriction process, which involves communicating the possible restriction of your account to you

Why can't I update my details online and fax/email through the documentation?

Confirmation of your identity number and any address change can be done only at a branch as we need to see your original identity document to satisfy the requirements of FICA. These documents can also be presented to your relationship manager face to face

How will you contact me?

We will contact you by telephone or email.

Can I send someone else to submit my FICA documentation?

No you cannot. We first need to verify your identity, therefore you need
to be present at the branch.